


The Adoring Beast

by DoreyG



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Canonical Character Death, Confessions, Dark, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, First Time, Ghost Making Out, Ghosts, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-12 15:58:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13550694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoreyG/pseuds/DoreyG
Summary: "Can I at least get a drink this time?" He asks, sitting up in bed and shoving his hands underneath the covers so Lux doesn't see them shake."You've already been drinking too much at it is," Lux says, and actually rolls his eyes at his answering gape, "and yes, Ihavebeen watching your movements. What else do I have to do?"





	The Adoring Beast

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rosencrantz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosencrantz/gifts).



> Somebody does get shot in the chest before the start of this fic and dies as a result of their injuries. I myself don't consider this a graphic depiction of violence, I don't go into much detail about it and the fact that one of the characters is a ghost is in the premise, but just to be warned that is a thing that happens.

He killed Lux, his former nemesis, a few weeks ago now. To be exact: three weeks, two days, twelve hours and thirty minutes ago now. It wasn't a big battle, a dramatic face-off between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. He just brought his gun up a little too fast, the guy dodged a little too slowly and the next day all the newscasters made a big show about sobbing over the death of another superhero.

He's still haunted by it.

He never really knew Lux _properly_ , but the guy was his nemesis and that's a special relationship in and of itself. They'd been in it together since the beginning, since the first day he put on his black costume - as dark as the night, liquid shadows to haunt the nightmares of civilians - and stepped out to see this spark of light darting joyously above his head. He'd attacked, hurt, even _maimed_ but he'd never actually wanted to kill. And now all he can remember is Lux's body crumpled against the wall of the bank, Lux's eyes going blank behind his ridiculous mask, Lux's chest covered in sticky red blood.

And that'd be bad enough on its own, y'know, that'd be responsible for a lifetime of therapy and guilt and nightmares just by itself. But on top of that... He's also literally haunted by it.

Lux's ghost, his motherfucking _ghost_ , hovers above the end of his bed. He's just as bright as he was in life, but his expression is considerably more annoyed than it ever was back then. The front of his costume is still stained. Not sticky red anymore, but still a blot of black against the glowing whiteness that just seems _obscene_.

"Can I at least get a drink this time?" He asks, sitting up in bed and shoving his hands underneath the covers so Lux doesn't see them shake.

"You've already been drinking too much at it is," Lux says, and actually rolls his eyes at his answering gape, "and yes, I _have_ been watching your movements. What else do I have to do?"

Because he's dead, _dead_. He'll never get the chance to fly around through the air again, or foil an evil plot, or call a common criminal a villain in an absurdly dramatic way. He'll never eat again, or drink again, or _breathe_ again. He'll never go back to his apartment or house after a long day ever again, or kiss his girlfriend or boyfriend ever again, or flop on the closest soft surface ever again. He'll never do _anything_ ever again, because-

" _Nox_."

"I d-don't know, haunt a grocery store or something," he stutters out, clamping down on the dark thoughts before they can rise up and overwhelm him. Lux is already looking at him with pursed lips and confused eyes, there's no need to make it worse for both of them, "or go back to that superhero club you go to after school. Surely _they'd_ be more helpful than I am."

"One, it's a league. Two, I haven't been in school for at _least_ fifteen years..." Lux informs him, lowering closer to the bed. His eyes are evolving from confused to thoughtful, and he's not sure which one is worse, "and three, it seems like they can't actually see me."

He stares for a second, stunned. And then actually takes the step of pulling his shaking hands out from under the blankets, burying his head in them as the full horror of that hits, "seriously?"

"Seriously," Lux says, with a sigh.

"So you can only be seen by the person who murdered you?" He buries his head further into his hands, wonders if he can just crawl into the darkness and stay there for the rest of his life, "I knew we lived in a messed up universe, the fact that you allowed an octopus woman into your club kinda proves that, but this just takes the fucking _cake_."

"She's a squid, actually, and a perfectly nice sentient cephalopod besides," Lux says, very carefully, "but, yes. I haven't tried too many people, of course, but so far it does seem like you're the only one who can interact with me."

He groans into his hands.

"Nox."

He pays no attention, groans into his hands again. He's felt awful ever since it, the _murder_ , happened but this is a whole new level. He wants to step into the shadow realm and stay there forever, wallow in this simmering guilt until it drowns him. To think that he trapped Lux, _Lux_ who never actually did anything wrong and always smiled when they first saw each other and looked really inappropriately hot in spandex, in this afterlife nightmare is just-

" _Nox_." And suddenly his hands are being pulled away from his face, and pinned down on the mattress. Lux is practically perched on his lap, glaring into his face with a level of annoyance that he never actually saw in life, "look at me."

"Uh," he says, intelligently, "kinda hard not to, at the moment."

"I don't just mean physically, I mean _actually_ look at me instead of turning your gaze inwards to your profound levels of angst," Lux says grimly, eyes still narrowed in a glare, "and actually pay attention to what I'm saying."

"Will there be a test, or something?" He grumbles, shifting under Lux's surprisingly tight grip. It's not like touching somebody who's alive, Lux's body actually dips half into him and the places where they intersect are as cold as ice, but he can still _feel_ it.

"You're the only person I've tried _so far_ who can interact with me," Lux says, with what he feels is a slightly exaggerated level of patience, "but I haven't, _of course_ , tried too many other people."

He stares.

"To be perfectly frank, I've only been to the league headquarters and here," Lux says, starting to look faintly awkward. He wears awkward well even when dead, has always worn awkward well. The loss of his pretty blush, that one that always turned his face bright tomato red, is another unexpected blow, "I know you're being rather slow at the moment, but what does that tell you?"

"That..." He licks his lips, tries to turn his head away but is stopped by another tight squeeze of his wrists by Lux, "that you want to get revenge on me, for what I did. That you want me to suffer, just as I made you suffer."

"No!" Lux yelps, and removes one largely insubstantial hand to slap over his face in despair, " _jesus_. If you were this good at reaching in your professional life, I swear to _god_ that you would've had a lot more success with all those robberies."

"Then I have no idea what it tells me," he says, maybe a touch sulkily, "I don't know why you wouldn't want vengeance, quite frankly. After all I did to you-"

"You did no worse to me than any supervillain has done to any superhero, or any superhero to any supervillain for that matter," Lux says, or _hisses_ more accurately, with a strange and faintly crazy light starting to come into his eyes, "and as for what my presence here, _here_ when I could be literally anywhere else in the _world_ , should tell you..."

"What?" He snaps, starting to get a bit riled up himself now, "go on, then, tell your big secret to your murderer. _What_?"

Lux takes in a deep breath, glowing a little brighter than he has been ever since this conversation started... And then suddenly leans in.

He's not expecting the kiss. He's been wanting the kiss for _years_ , has longed for it and dreamed about it and pictured it in minute detail, but that doesn't mean that he ever expected it to happen. Especially in _this_ situation, with the guy he's always kinda wanted being dead by his hand and all. For a long few moments he doesn't really know how to respond, just sits there frozen as Lux does his thing.

But then... Something changes, Lux tilts his head a little and he finds himself arching up a little more. And suddenly they're _properly_ kissing, a glide of freezing lips and insubstantial tongue and teeth as cold as ice chips that still somehow does more for him than any other kiss he's ever had.

"Well," he says a little breathlessly, when they finally part, "I guess that explains a few things."

"I thought it might," Lux smiles, a touch smugly.

"I'm still not going to stop saying that you should hate me, though," he says, and manages the smallest smile imaginable at Lux's huff of protest, "it's true, if our positions were swapped... Well, I probably wouldn't hate you either. But any _sane_ person would."

"You're perfectly sane," Lux huffs, mildly offended on his behalf, "and it was an _accident_ , and... Look, I feel exactly the same way that you do."

He stares silently for a long few seconds, barely daring to hope.

"How could I ever hate you?" Lux asks, a faint self-conscious smile touching his lips and spreading across his face like a sunbeam, "you're the only person in this whole city, in this whole _world_ , that I actually give a damn about."

He blinks, once. Blinks again, even harder, to try and hold back the tears. And, when that fails, tries to turn his head away and stare stoically at the wall until his emotions settle back into a far less embarrassing rhythm, "a pity we only discovered how to actually communicate our feelings after I murdered you, and all."

"Again, accident," Lux says, gently but firmly places one insubstantial finger half into his jaw and turns his head back to face him, "and... Maybe not as permanent an accident as you might first think."

His jaw drops open, he sits up a little further in his bed and catches Lux before he slide off his body altogether, "wh-what?"

"This is Superhero-town, which sounds _much_ cooler than just plain Chicago, kid," Lux says, and gives him a smile that is better than the loot from any bank, "want to see what it's like to make out when I'm not an insubstantial ice cube?"


End file.
